Maslow’s Pyramid of Needs is undoubtedly one of the most iconic psychological images. Reprinted countless times, the pyramid depicts physiological needs such as breathing, food, and water at the base of the pyramid. The next layer is safety and security, then comes love and belonging, then self-esteem and respect, with self-actualization at the top.
馬斯洛的需求金字塔無疑是最為經(jīng)典的心理學圖像之一。這幅被重印了無數(shù)次的金字塔中，底層是諸如呼吸、食物和水等生理需求，再往上是安全，之后，是愛和歸屬，然后，是自尊和尊敬，最高頂點是自我實現(xiàn)。
Once you’ve seen it, the idea of a pyramid of needs sticks with you. It is intuitive, it is memorable – and it is wrong. As an image of human needs, Maslow’s Pyramid of Needs is mistaken on two accounts: It’s not Maslow’s pyramid. And the needs don’t form a pyramid.
一旦你看過這張圖，這一金字塔形狀的需求理論就會牢牢印在你腦海中。它非常直觀，它令人難忘，但同時，它也是錯誤的。作為人類需求圖，馬斯洛的需求金字塔在兩個方面存在錯誤：
這并非馬斯洛的金字塔，
而且人類需求也并非金字塔形狀存在。
First, rather surprisingly, Abraham Maslow himself never created a pyramid of needs. Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1908, Maslow is still regarded as one of the most influential Twentieth-century psychologists who is indeed especially famous for his theory of human needs. Reacting to the atrocities of the WWII, Maslow wanted to develop a psychology of human potential, the good in each of us, and what humans ultimately need to flourish.
首先，非常出人意外的是，馬斯洛本人從來沒有創(chuàng)造過金字塔需求。他于1908年出生于紐約布魯克林，至今，他依舊被視為最具影響力的20世紀心理學家之一，他因其所提出的人類需求理論而廣為知名。
當初，面對第二次世界大戰(zhàn)中的暴行，馬斯洛希望提出一個關于人類潛力、每個人類個體之中都存在的美好，以及實現(xiàn)成功生活所需的終極需求的心理學理論。
However, the shape of a pyramid is nowhere to be found in Maslow’s writings. It was a bunch of management scholars who in the late 50s and early 60s drew the pyramid as a mnemonic for managers wanting “maximum motivation at lowest cost.” The pyramid, thus, does not have anything to do with Maslow himself but rather the iconic shape spread through management textbooks and business consultants eager to sell the pyramid as a tool to extract motivation from unsuspecting employees.
但在馬斯洛著作中，金字塔形狀并不存在。其實是上世紀50年代末和60年代初時的一幫管理學學者畫出了這張金字塔圖，幫助想要“以最低成本獲得最大驅動力”的管理人員記憶這些需求。因此，這一金字塔與馬斯洛本身并無關系，實際上，這一經(jīng)典形狀其實是通過管理學教科書和企業(yè)顧問而廣為傳播。這些企業(yè)顧問們急切想要將這一金字塔兜售為從毫無疑心的員工身上榨取驅動力的工具。
Second, the scientific community realized already decades ago that while humans certainly might have psychological needs, these needs don’t arrange themselves into a clear hierarchy. Furthermore, the list of needs provided by Maslow has been challenged by newer, more empirically supported theories.
其次，科學界早在數(shù)十年前就已經(jīng)意識到，盡管人類肯定可能是有心理需求的，但這些需求并沒有一個明確的層級。而且，馬斯洛所列出的需求也受到了一些更新、更具有實證證據(jù)的理論的挑戰(zhàn)。
In a bold new book, entitled Transcend – The New Science of Self-Actualization, psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman aims to make Maslow relevant again by retaining the healthy core of his theory, while integrating his ideas with the developments of empirical psychology that have taken place in the five decades since Maslow passed away in Menlo Park, Ca., on June 8, 1970, when his eager writing to revise his theory came to an unfortunate halt through a fatal heart attack.
在一本名為《超越——自我實現(xiàn)的新科學理論》的新書中，心理學家 Scott Barry Kaufman旨在讓馬斯洛理論更貼合實際，于是保留了馬斯洛理論的健康核心部分，同時融入了馬斯洛于1970年6月8日在加利福尼亞門洛帕克去世后五十年中經(jīng)驗心理學領域的最新進展。當時馬斯洛正一腔熱血修正他自己的理論，但一次致命的心臟病不幸導致這一修正過程戛然而止。
Kaufman argues that the part of Maslow’s theory that has stood the test of time is a distinction between two types of needs. First, there are the deficit needs, which dominate our motivation and trump any higher needs when they are urgently lacking. If I am underwater and start to be out of oxygen, self-realization is not the first thing on my mind. The only need I care about is the necessity of being able to breath again. The more precarious a physical need becomes, the more it preoccupies our mind. Hunger is a powerful motivation. However, as long as my access to water, food, and shelter feels secured, I don’t think about them much. Deficit needs thus become activated mainly when we are lacking them.
Kaufman認為，馬斯洛理論中通過時間檢驗的部分，是他把需求分為了兩類。首先，有匱乏型需求，這類需求主導著我們的驅動力，當極度缺乏時，會優(yōu)于其他任何高層級需求。如果我在水下，開始缺氧，這時候我首先想到的并不是自我實現(xiàn)。我唯一在乎的，是能夠再次呼吸。當一個生理需求卻迫切，它就越主導占據(jù)我們的大腦。饑餓，是一種強大的驅動力，但只要我對水、食物和住所的需求得到滿足，我并不會在很大程度上注意到這些需求。因此，匱乏型需求被激活，主要是在我們缺乏它們時。
Human existence, however, is not mere passive reactance to deficits. As the movie character Solomon Northup memorably states in 12 Years a Slave: “I don’t want to survive. I want to live.” We humans are not mere survival-machines, but active and growth-oriented, eager to take on challenges through which to manifest our full potential. A human being has a tendency for self-fulfillment, “to become actualized in what he is potentially”, as Maslow put it. In this quest to realize ourselves, we are guided by what Maslow called growth needs. While deficit needs are driven by fears, anxieties, and a push to quench what we are lacking, growth needs pull us towards what we find intriguing and valuable. They are the sources of intrinsic fulfillment we are drawn towards when we don’t have to worry about mere survival.
但人類的存在并不只是對匱乏的被動反應。正如Solomon Northup在《為奴12年》中令人難忘的一句話：我不想要生存，我想要生活。
我們人類并不只是生存機器，而是主動的、以成長為目標的，迫切希望接受挑戰(zhàn)，以此來展現(xiàn)我們的全部潛力。
人類有自我實現(xiàn)的傾向，如馬斯洛所說，“實現(xiàn)自身潛能”。在追求自我實現(xiàn)的道路上，我們被馬斯洛所說的“成長需求”所引導。匱乏型需求由恐懼、焦慮、消除匱乏所驅動，而成長型需求則會將我們引導至我們認為有趣、有價值的目標。這些目標，是當我們不用擔心生存時，吸引我們前往的、我們自我實現(xiàn)感的來源。
The pyramid fails to capture this fundamental distinction between deficit and growth needs. In its place Kaufman proposes a sailboat. Life isn’t a project or a competition; it is a journey to travel through “a vast blue ocean, full of new opportunities for meaning and discovery but also danger and uncertainty.” The hull of the boat is what keeps us afloat, offering security from the waves. It represents the deficit needs essential for survival. Kaufman proposes three such needs: feeling safe, feeling of belonging and not being rejected by others, and protecting our self-esteem. In other words, we need to feel safe both in the physical realm, in the interpersonal realm, and in our relation to ourselves.
但金字塔需求論則未能描述匱乏型需求與成長型需求的這種區(qū)別。因此，Kaufman 提出了帆船形需求說。
人生并非一個項目或一項比賽，它是一段航程，一段航行在“充滿著能夠探尋意義與發(fā)現(xiàn)的全新機遇，同時也充滿著危險和不確定性的浩瀚藍色海洋”的航程。
船體部分，能夠讓我們漂浮在海面，避免波浪侵襲。它代表著對于生存至關重要的匱乏型需求。
Kaufman提出了三種此類需求：安全感、歸屬感和不被他人拒絕感、保護個人自尊。換言之，我們需要在生理領域、人際領域以及自己與自己的關系領域內都感到安全。
But having a protective body is not enough for real movement. Kaufman quotes Seneca: “If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.” What we need to do is to open our sail and dare to embrace life and direct our efforts towards actualizing ourselves. As for the growth-oriented needs, Kaufman again proposes three: exploration, love, and purpose. We explore our environment for the sheer pleasure of it, we want to feel a deep sense of connection and love with others, and we seek goals worth pursuing to energize our activities. The growth needs are thus not depicted as a pyramid to climb; they are ultimately about opening up to life, daring to treat life as a quest.
但只是擁有穩(wěn)固的船體，并不會讓這艘船前行。Kaufman 引用 Seneca的話：“如果一個人不知道自己將駛向哪個港口，那么沒有風是順風?！?/strong>我們需要做的，是打開船帆，大膽擁抱生活，全力駛向自我實現(xiàn)。
關于成長導向型需求，Kaufman提出了這三種：探索、愛、目標。
我們探索我們的環(huán)境，感受探索所帶來的純粹愉悅；我們想要與他人建立深層的連接感與愛；我們追求值得追求的目標，為我們的行動提供能量。
因此，成長型需求并沒有被描述為一個需要攀爬的金字塔，它們的真諦，是張開雙臂面對生活，敢于將人生視為一次追尋過程。
Of course, the stronger the hull, the easier it is to boldly open up the sails. To dare to explore and grow, we need to have a secure base. That’s why Maslow wanted to democratize the opportunity to live a growth-oriented life through removing the obstacles for it, like material scarcity, emotional coldness, and institutions crushing our dreams. The needs can be used to evaluate our current institutions like schools, workplaces, and whole societies. When designing and critically examining them, we should be asking are they helping us to satisfy our needs or rather the main reason our needs are thwarted. If the latter, they should be revised. Each of us should be given an equal opportunity to pursue our liberty, and this happens only if our institutions provide safety, security, and a sense of belonging.
當然，船體越堅固，就越易于大膽張開船帆。想要敢于去探索和成長，我們需要有穩(wěn)固的基底。這也是為什么馬斯洛希望通過移除種種障礙，如物質匱乏、情感冷漠、擊碎我們夢想的社會機構，讓每個人都能夠擁有獲得成長型人生的機遇。
這些需求，可以用來衡量我們當前的社會機構，如學校、工作場所以及整個社會。當設計與審視這些機構時，我們應該問，他們是否在幫助我們滿足我們的需求，還是它們阻礙了我們的需求。如果是后者，那么它們就需要被修正。我們每個人都應該被給與平等的機遇去追求我們的自由，而只有當我們的體制機構能夠給我們提供安全感與歸屬感時，這種追求才能成為可能。
This is the legacy of Maslow worth fighting for: To build a culture and institutions that support the ability of each of us to grow and become the best versions of ourselves. This is done through ensuring that as many as possible can grow up, live, and work in environments that support the satisfaction of our basic psychological needs.
這是馬斯洛理論中值得為其而戰(zhàn)的遺贈：構建能夠支持每個人成長、讓每個人能夠成為最好的自己的文化與社會機構。要實現(xiàn)這一目標，我們需要確保盡可能多的人能夠在可以滿足我們基本心理需求的環(huán)境中長大、生活、工作。
